Canada's antitrust regulator sues Google: Online advertising business suspected of anti-competitive behavior

According to the Zhitong Finance APP, Canada's antitrust regulator announced on Thursday that it is suing tech giant Google (GOOGL.US) for alleged anti-competitive behavior in its online advertising business and is seeking the sale of two of its advertising technology tools, as well as the payment of fines. The Competition Bureau of Canada stated that this action is necessary because its investigation found that Google "illegally" bundled its advertising technology tools together to maintain its market dominance. The Competition Bureau has applied to the Competition Tribunal for a court order requiring Google to sell its publisher ad server DoubleClick for Publishers and its ad exchange platform AdX. It is estimated that Google holds 90%, 70%, 60%, and 50% market shares in the publisher ad server, ad network, demand-side platform, and ad exchange markets, respectively. The Competition Bureau of Canada stated that this dominance hinders competition from rivals, stifles innovation, raises advertising costs, and reduces publishers' revenues. Matthew Boswell, the Commissioner of Competition in Canada, stated in a press release: "Google is abusing its dominant position in the online advertising space in Canada, locking market participants into using its own advertising technology tools, excluding competitors, and distorting the competitive process." In response, Google stated that this accusation "ignores the fierce competition, as both advertisers and sellers have many options, and we look forward to presenting our case in court." Dan Taylor, Google's Vice President of Global Ads, stated: "Our advertising technology tools help websites and applications fund their content and allow businesses of all sizes to effectively reach new customers." It is worth mentioning that last week, the U.S. Department of Justice formally requested Google to divest its Chrome browser. Court documents show that the U.S. Department of Justice is asking the judge to rule that Google should divest Chrome and be prohibited from re-entering the browser market for the next five years. The U.S. Department of Justice also requested the judge to order Google to divest its Android operating system if other remedies cannot restore competition. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking a court order requiring Google to distribute search results and information to competitors for the next ten years. Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to stop Google from paying Apple billions of dollars to ensure it becomes the default search engine on Apple devices; it seeks to prohibit Google from acquiring or investing in any search competitors, query-based AI products, or advertising technology. Google stated that the Department of Justice's requests far exceed legal boundaries and would harm consumers, developers, and the technological leadership of the United States